Power-driven guy drum



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 6, 1953 INVENTOR.

' Peter Anderson 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001:. 6, 1953 30 ill INVENTOR.

' Peter Anderson Nov. 27, 1956 ANDERSON 2,772,071

x=owsa-nazvsn GUY DRUM Filed Oct. 6, 1953 Sheet Sheet 3 mmvrozz Peter Andersbn 63 www United States Patent POWER-DRIVEN GUY DRUlVI Peter Anderson, Seattle, Wash, assiguor to Washington Iron Works Co., Seattle, Wash., a corporation of Washington Application October 6, 1953, Serial No. 384,440

14 Claims. (Cl. 254-161),

This invention relates to a power guy drum, and namely a winding drum for a guy line, power-driven so as to permit the inner end of a guy line to be wound thereon and brought to a proper condition of tautness by'thetakeup imposed upon the line from the drum, rather than having to resort to the usual practice of taking up slack at the ground-anchoring end of the guy line, a procedure which customarily involves spiking 'each of a succession of turns to a stump and drawing each such turn tight before driving the anchoring spikes.

The general object of the invention is to provide a ruggedly constructed compact power drum which is especially efiicient in the performance of the function for which it is intended, and namely the tightening of a guy line, and it is a further important object to devise a guy drum activated by hydraulic or electric power drawn from a source remote to the drum, and wherein the connections between said source and the drum include a breakaway fitting enabling the power source to be coupled to and uncoupled from the drum at will.

With the foregoing and other more particular objects and advantages in View the invention consists in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View with parts broken away and in section illustrating a power guy drum constructed in accordance with the now-preferred embodiment of the present invention. A guy line for the drum and a spar to which the drum is shown attached are shown fragmentarily.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view drawn on line 2-2 of Fig. 3, the scale being enlarged from that of Fig. 1 and both the spar and the guy line beingdeleted.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view on, line 3-3 of Fig. 2, again incorporating a showing of the associated guy lines; and

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are schematic side elevational views indicating some of the possible hook-ups. to which the present drum lends itself.

Referring to said drawing the reference numeral 10 designates a Winding drum provided with the usual flanged ends and formed in its spooling surface 11 with a buttsocket 12 accommodating the terminal ferrule 13 of a cable 14. Bushings 15 fitted in hub portions of the drum at the two ends thereof are journaled upon a drum shaft 16, and the two ends of this shaft are carried by cheeksections 17 and 18 of a frame. A keeper 20 held in place by-cap-screws 21 secures the drum shaft against endwise displacement. At the end of the frame opposite the drum the cheek sections converge into proximate but spaced relation so as to provide a terminal fork 22, and in the narrowing throat between this fork and the drum there is welded a stiffening web 23 of an inverted U-shape when viewed in longitudinal vertical section. The two arms of the'fork' are traversed by upper and lower pins 24 and 25, respectively, and as respects the latter of the pins its function is to provide a transverse front pivot for a "ice link 26 whose rear end is arranged to pivot about a verti-cal mounting pin 27. The purpose of the upper pin 24 is to provide a root mounting for a cable section 28 functionally related to the cable 14 which winds upon the drum 10. J

Reverting to the drum it will be seen that there is formed in the periphery of one of the flanges a ratchet Wheel 30, and as a complement to this ratchet wheel there is provided a toggle-mounted locking .dog 31 releasably urged either into or out of a drum-locking position by a spring 32. Formed in the other flange of the drum, facing to the outside, is an internal gear 33, and in mesh with this internal gear is a pinion 34. A shaft 35 integral with such pinion projects outwardly through and beyond the frame section 18 and is fitted in and keyed to the hub 36 of a gear wheel 37, with such hub being j'ournaled in a bushed thimble 38 welded to the frame as an integral part thereof. Gear wheel '37 and pinion 34 constitute the second of two intermediate sets of gears for reducing speed, and such gear wheel and pinion will be hereinafter so termed. A first intermediate pinion 39 shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3 meshes said gear wheel 37, .and a first intermediate gear wheel 40 which is keyed or otherwise made fast to a shaft prolongation of said pinion meshes a motor-driven pinion 41. A shell 42 for housing said gears is bolted to the frame.

Themotorfor this motor-driven pinion, in the form in which it is here illustrated, is a hydraulically operated unit designated by 43 and is secured, as by bolts 45, to the face of the frames cheek-"section 18. One of the two complementing halves 46 and 47 of a suitable breakaway twin coupling is permanently carried'by said motor and the other breakaway half is attached to hose lines 48 and 49. As a breakaway fitting I have elected to illustrate the Aero-grip coupling which holds its two halves in coupled condition by a mechanical latch and which separates automatically either by tripping the latch or by a tug upon the hose lines. Valves contained in the mating heads automatically close when the breakaway unit is disconnected so as to seal both halves. In lieu of a motor activated by hydraulic power, the motor could, if desired, be energized electrically or by pressure air, fed and controlled from a central power supply remote to the drum. Should a group of the guy drums be required in any given installation the same could be each individually controlled from a remote central point, or a single master control, connecting with each of the grouped guy drums, could be employed.

As here portrayed the power guy drum is shown con.- nected by the pin 27 in the slot provided by the accessory fork 50 of a self-aligning fairleader 51 which is applied in surmounting relation to the spar 52 of a Washington Iron Works Model TL-lS Trakloader. The present structure self-evidently adapts itself with equal facility to any other installation using guy lines.

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 I have shown three examples of hook-ups which mightfeasibly be employed in carrying the present invention into practice. In Fig. 4 there is illustrated a multiple-line hook-up in which one block 60 of a block-and-tackle is anchored by cable 28 to the pin 24 of the present drum assembly, while a ground-connected guy line 62 is connected with the other block 63. The cable 14 which winds about the drum 10 passes about the two blocks with such greater or lesser mechanical ad.- vantage as the particular number of turns may afford. In Fig. .5 there. is provided a single whip hook-up with the cable 14 passing from the pin 24 about a block 64 and thence to the winding drum 10, and with the ground connecting guy line 62 connected to the block. Fig. 6 shows a single line hook-up in which the cable 62 runs from the winding drum directly to the ground anchor; I

The advantages of the invention, it is thought, will have been clearly understood from the foregoing detailed description of the illustrated preferred embodiment. Minor changes will suggest themselves and may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, wherefore it is my intention that no limitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be given a scope fully commensurate with the broadest interpretation to which the employed language admits.

What I claim is:

1. In a power guy drum, a frame provided at one end with a fork disposing its slot vertically, an upper and a lower horizontal pin traversing said slot, a link having. one end fitted in said slot and receiving a pivot mounting from the lower of said horizontal pins and at its other end providing means for obtaining a vertical pivot mounting, a stationary horizontal shaft carried by said frame at the end of the latter opposite the fork, a drum journaled for rotation on the shaft, a ratchet wheel and a gear wheel made integral with the drum, a dog for said ratchet wheel, a pinion in mesh with said gear wheel for driving the drum, a motor supported by aid frame, a pinion directdriven by the motor, meshing first and second sets of intermediate wheel and pinion reduction gears with the motor-driven pinion in mesh with the gear wheel of the first said intermediate set and with the pinion of the second said intermediate set in mesh with the drum-driving pinion, a frame journal for the several said gears, and

means controlled from a point remote to the drum assembly for powering said motor.

2. In a power guy drum, a pair of spaced-apart frame pieces having a stiffening web integrated therewith and at one end converging into proximate spaced relation to V produce a fork disposing its slot vertically, an upper and a lower horizontal pin traversing said slot, a link having one end fitted in said slot and receiving a pivot mounting from the lower of said horizontal pins and at its other end providing means for obtaining a vertical pivot mounting, a tationary traversing horizontal shaft carried by said frame pieces at the end of the latter opposite the fork, a drum journaled for rotation on the shaft and having integral annular flanges at both ends thereof, a ratchet wheel formed in one of said end flanges, a dog for said ratchet wheel, an internal gear formed in the other of said end flange, a pinion in mesh with said internal gear for driving the drum, a motor carried by the frame, a pinion direct-driven by the motor, meshing first and second sets of intermediate wheel and pinion reduction gears 'with the motor-driven pinion in mesh with the gear wheel of the first said intermediate set and with the pinion of the second said intermediate set in mesh with the drumdriving pinion, means carried by the frame providing a journal mounting for the several said gears, and means controlled from a point remote to the drum assembly for powering said motor.

3. In combination: a spar, a guyline drum, a frame attached to the spar and providing a journal mounting for the rotation of the drum, a guy line wound upon the drum and running therefrom to a ground anchor, a motor carried by the frame as a permanently attached adjunct thereof, reduction gearing operatively interconnecting said motor with the drum, releasable mean for locking said drum against rotation in a direction counter to the guywinding movement, and means for activating the motor from a central power-supply remote to the drum.

4. The combination of claim 3 in which the spar has a self-aligning fairleader upon its head end, and wherein the drum-carrying frame is attached to a collar provided upon the spar immediately below the fairleader.

5. A combination according to claim 3 in' which-the attachment between the frame and the spar includes a connecting link to which the frame is pivoted for vertical swinging motion about a horizontal axis and which is pivoted to the spar for horizontal swinging motion about a vertical axis.

motor carried by the frame as a permanently attached adjunct thereof, reduction gearing operatively interconnecting said motor with the drum, releasable means for,

locking said drum against rotation in a direction counter to the guy-winding movement, and means for activating the motor from a central power supply remote to the drum.

8. In combination: a spar, a guyline drum, a frame attached to the spar and providing a journal mounting for the rotation of the drum, a guyline wound upon the drum and running therefrom to a ground anchor, a hydraulically powered motor carried by the frame as a pen manently attached adjunct thereof, reduction gearing operatively interconnecting said motor with the drum, releasable means for locking said drum against rotation in a direction counter to the guy-winding movement, and connection to the motor from a pressure source of hydraulic fluid remote to the drum. a a

9. In combination: a spar, a guyline drum, a frameattached to the spar and providing a journal mounting; for

the rotation of the drum, a guy line wound uponthe drum and running therefrom to a ground anchor, a hydraulically powered motor carried by the frame as a permanently attached adjunct thereof, reduction gearing operatively interconnecting said motor with the drum, re-- leasable means for locking said drum against rotation in a direction counter to the guy-winding movement, and fluid-flow lines extending'between the motor and a pressure source of hydraulic fluid remote to the drum, said fluid-flow lines having a breakaway connection located immediately adjacent the drum.

10. In a power guyline drum, a frame, a winding drum 7 carried for rotation by the frame, a hydraulic motor on said frame having driving connection'with the drum, a link providing means for attaching the same to a spar so that the link will pivot about a vertical axis and itself so pivotally connected to the frame that the frame will partake of vertical swinging motion about a horizontal axis, and a breakaway connection for activating the'hydraulic motor from a source of fluid under pressure located remote to the drum. a

11. In a power guyline drum, a frame, a winding drum carried for rotation by the frame, a hydraulic motor secured to said frame and having driving connection with the drum, means for so attaching the frame to a spar which is to be guyed that the frame is free to swing both vertically about a horizontal axis and horizontally about a vertical axis, and a breakaway connection for activating the hydraulic motor from a source of fluid under pressure located remote to the drum.

12. Structure according to claim 11 in which the driv-.

ing connection'from the motor to the drum includes reduction gearing. 5

13. Structure according to claim '12 having releasable means for locking the drum against rotation in a direction counter to the direction which winds a guyline upon the drum. r 14. In a power guyline drum,"a frame, a winding drum carried for rotation by the frame, a motor on said frame having driving connection with the drum, a link providing means for attaching the same to a" spar so that the link will pivot about a vertical axis and itself so pivotally connected to the frame that the frame will partake of vertical swinging motion about. a horizontal axis, and a breakaway connection for activating the motor from a central source of power located remote to the drum.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Benson June 8, 1937 Hite Mar. 11, 1947 Hollmann Jan. 31, 1950 6 Shaflf Mar. 14, 1950 Moore Dec. 19, 1950 Mayer July 3, 1951 Morgan Dec. 30, 1952 Mitchell May 19, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Canada Jan. 22, 1952 

